Spellslinger is a rather quirky book, which I enjoyed very much. A young mage who’s struggling with magic, a traveller passing through who can’t keep her hilarious social commentary to herself, and a snarky talking squirrel cat? This combination was most peculiar, making me laugh and smirk throughout.

In many ways, Wing Jone is the book that I’ve been searching for for half my life. (I’m in my mid-twenties, so that’s not an exaggeration.) See, I’m of biracial descent. Even though I’ve sought books with biracial protagonists all my life, I’ve come across very few. Combine that with sports, one of my many passions, and odds of finding such a book plummet to near zero. Then Wing Jones came along and that book made my heart sing.

The Well of Ascension was an amazing sequel! It carried on with the rich detail that The Final Empire introduced. I loved learning even more about Scadrial and advancing my understanding of Allomancy and Feruchemy.

Books set in university that aren’t entirely pre-occupied with romance are surprisingly tough to find. During my own undergraduate studies I wished for so many more but had to make do with books set in high school. Maybe “make do” sounds like I didn’t enjoy those books but I did. It’s just that the university setting tends to be rather neglected. That’s why I was pretty excited to learn that Counting Stars featured university students.

When it comes to contemporary fiction, I love books with protagonists who have ambition and passion for something. Cut the Lights fully delivered in that department. Drama and theatre were the main focus and very little detracted from that. I think in part that stemmed from the shortness of the book. The length didn’t allow for much else beyond theatre, which means there were no unnecessary distractions.